Historical Events
Freedom of Religious Conscience
1564-12-31 William I of Orange demands freedom of religious conscience for his subjects in dramatic speech to the Council of State
- 1607-06-30 Annales Ecclesiastici (Scientific History of Catholicism) published
Russian Academy of Sciences
1724-01-28 The Russian Academy of Sciences founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in a Senate decree. Called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
- 1743-11-05 Coordinated scientific observations of the transit of Mercury were organized by Joseph-Nicolas Delisle
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1780-05-04 American Academy of Arts & Science founded in Boston, James Bowdoin, John and Samuel Adams founding members
- 1799-03-07 The Royal Institution of Great Britain founded; dedicated to scientific research and education.
HMS Beagle Launches
1820-05-11 Launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that would later take a young Charles Darwin on his famous scientific voyage
Daguerreotype Photographic Process
1839-01-09 Louis Daguerre demonstrates his 'daguerreotype' photographic process to the French Academy of Science
- 1845-08-28 Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue
- 1848-09-20 The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.
National Academy of Sciences
1863-03-03 Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences
Royal Albert Hall
1867-05-20 Royal Albert Hall of Arts & Sciences foundation laid by Queen Victoria in London
- 1874-06-22 American physician Dr Andrew T. Still founds the study of Osteopathy
- 1889-12-14 American Academy of Political & Social Science organized in Philadelphia
- 1894-08-14 Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge demonstrates wireless telegraphy (radio) using Morse code at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford University
- 1895-06-20 1st female PhD from an American University, earned by Caroline Willard Baldwin (in Science) at Cornell University
- 1898-06-30 Winton Motor Carriage Company publishes the first known automobile ad in Scientific American using the headline “dispense with a horse.”
- 1899-01-28 American Social Science Association incorporated by Congress
- 1903-12-30 American Political Science Association founded at New Orleans
First Ad for a Radio Set
1905-11-25 Telimco makes the 1st ever advertisement for a radio set, by advertising a $8.50 set in the "Scientific American" which claimed to receive signals for up to one mile
- 1914-02-26 New York Museum of Science & Industry incorporated
- 1920-04-26 Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis hold "great debate" on the nature of nebulae, galaxies and size of the universe at US National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
- 1924-01-12 History of Science Society organized at Boston
Cosmic Rays Discovery
1925-11-09 Robert A. Millikan confirms the existence of cosmic rays from outer space in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences at Madison, Wisconsin
- 1927-05-11 Louis B Mayer forms Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
- 1932-11-24 In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
- 1934-01-13 The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR
- 1946-11-04 United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) formed
- 1948-02-05 "Nature of Things" science show premieres on NBC prime time
- 1954-09-03 The German U-Boat U-505 began its move from a specially constructed dock to its final site at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.
Klaus Fuchs Released
1959-06-23 Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany, where he resumed a scientific career
- 1959-12-01 12 nations sign treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
- 1961-06-23 The Antarctic Treaty, ensuring that Antarctica is used for peaceful purposes; for international cooperation in scientific research; and does not become the scene or object of international discord, comes into force
- 1962-10-22 Pacific Science Center opens at Seattle Center
- 1972-02-01 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)
- 1983-05-14 "She Blinded Me with Science" by Thomas Dolby hits #5
- 1983-12-23 Journal "Science" publishes 1st report on nuclear winter
HP's Scientific Calculator
1988-01-08 Hewlett-Packard introduces HP-28S Advanced Scientific Calculator
- 1988-11-11 Oldest known insect fossils (390 million yrs) reported in Science
- 1993-06-24 Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber
- 2008-09-10 The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland
- 2012-07-05 South Korea announce plans to begin "scientific' whaling of minke whales
- 2013-01-30 South Korea successfully launches its rocket Naro-1 which was carrying a scientific satellite
- 2013-10-14 Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen, and Robert Shiller win the 2013 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on asset prices
- 2015-08-17 World's first flower could be underwater plant Montsechia Vidalii claim US botanists (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
- 2015-11-20 More than half of all trees in Amazon forest at risk of extinction according to data published in journal "Sciences Advances"
Famous Birthdays
- 1585-03-13 Federico Cesi, Italian naturalist and founder of the first modern scientific society, the Accademia dei Lincei, 1603, born in Rome, Italy (d. 1630)
- 1620-04-24 John Graunt, English statistician, founder of science of demography, born in London (d. 1674)
- 1708-10-16 Albrecht von Haller, Swiss experimental physiologist, biologist and author (Acadamy of Science), born in Bern, Switzerland (d. 1777)
- 1773-12-27 George Cayley, English inventor who founded science of aerodynamics (built 1st glider to carry a person), born in Scarborough, England (d. 1854)
- 1774-11-24 Thomas Dick, Scottish scientific teacher and writer (d. 1857)
- 1779-08-07 Carl Ritter, German geographer and co-founder of modern science of geography, born in Quedlinburg, Prussia (d. 1859)
- 1794-05-24 William Whewell, English polymath and philosopher (History of Inductive Science), born in Lancaster, Lancashire, England (d. 1866)
- 1815-08-04 Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich, German physician (established normal temperature as 37 °C (98.6 °F)), born in Sulz am Neckar (d. 1877)
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910)
1821-07-16 American founder of the religious movement, Christian Science (Science & Health), born in Bow, New Hampshire
- 1824-03-02 Konstantin Ushinsky, Russian educationalist (credited as the founder of scientific pedagogy in Russia), born in Tula, Russia (d. 1870)
- 1824-06-02 Samuel Wilks, British physician and founding father of clinical science, born in London (d. 1911)
- 1831-09-13 Andrew Noble, Scottish physicist who was a founder of the science of ballistics, born in Greenock (d. 1915)
- 1836-11-06 Francis Ellingwood Abbot, American theologian (Scientific Theism), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1903)
- 1843-10-22 Stephen Babcock, American agricultural chemist (Babcock test and father of scientific dairying), born in Oneida County, New York (d. 1931)
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915)
1856-03-20 American mechanical engineer and the father of scientific management, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1868-05-19 John Fillmore Hayford, American Geodesist who established the theory of isostasy and founded the modern science of geodesy (precise measurements of the shape of the earth), born in Rouses Point, New York (d. 1925)
- 1868-08-22 Willis Rodney Whitney, American Chemist, founder of the General Electric research laboratory, and pioneer of industrial scientific research, born in Jamestown, NY (d. 1958)
- 1871-11-09 Florence Sabin, American Scientist who was the first woman to graduate from Johns Hopkins and the first lifetime woman member of the National Academy of Sciences, born in Central City, Colorado (d. 1953)
- 1876-09-26 Edith Abbott, American social worker and educator (University of Chicago Social Sciences), born in Grand Island, Nebraska (d. 1957)
- 1882-12-10 Otto Neurath, Austrian-British philosopher (Foundation of Social Sciences), born in Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1945)
- 1886-01-08 Noble Drew Ali [Timothy Drew], American prophet (Moorish Science Temple), born in North Carolina (d. 1929)
- 1896-06-18 Blanche Sweet, American actress (Home Sweet Home, Avenging Conscience), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1986)
- 1901-04-05 Chester Bowles, American ambassador and writer (Conscience of a Liberal), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1986)
- 1902-04-04 Stanley G. Weinbaum, American sci-fi author (Martian Odyssey), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1935)
- 1907-04-04 Nathan M. Pusey, American educator, 24th president of Harvard University (1953-71), born in Council Bluffs, Iowa (d. 2001)
- 1908-01-18 Jacob Bronowski, Polish-born British mathematician and science writer best known as the presenter of the BBC television series, The Ascent of Man, born in Łódź, Poland (d. 1974)
- 1914-10-21 Martin Gardner, American mathematician and scientific writer (Scientific American math & puzzles columnist), born in Hendersonville, North Carolina (d. 2010)
- 1915-11-04 Alistair Cameron Crombie, Australian historian of science, born in Brisbane, Australia (d. 1996)
- 1917-05-28 Barry Commoner, American biologist and politician (his work on radioactive fallout led to 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2012)
- 1920-11-05 Douglass North, American economist, (Nobel Prize Economic Sciences 1993), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 2015)
- 1921-04-26 Margaret Gowing, English historian (Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy), born in Kensington, London (d. 1998)
- 1921-07-16 Trevor Illtyd Williams, scientific writer, born in Bristol, England (d. 1996)
- 1925-03-22 Colin Spedding, British biologist and animal welfare advocate (d. 2012)
- 1925-11-27 John Maddox, British science writer and editor (Nature), born in Penllergaer, Wales (d. 2009)
Vernon L. Smith (97 years old)
1927-01-01 American economist and Nobel laureate, born in Wichita, Kansas
- 1928-01-31 Eric Ash, British engineer and university rector (Imperial College, London), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2021)
- 1930-08-23 John Fairclough, British scientific adviser and computer designer, born in Yorkshire (d. 2003)
- 1931-03-20 John Rae, British educator (Headmaster of Westminster, 1970-86), writer (Conscience & Politics), and novelist (The Custard Boys), born in London (d. 2006)
- 1934-03-27 David Hancock, British civil servant, secretary (British Department of Education & Science), born in Beckenham, Kent (d. 2013)
- 1936-11-05 Michael Dertouzos, Greek internet pioneer, Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director of the M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science (d. 2001)
- 1943-05-22 Gesine Schwan, German politician (Social Democratic Party of Germany) and professor, born in Berlin
- 1943-08-02 Max Wright, American character actor (Buffalo Bill; Alf; Misfits of Science), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2019)
- 1944-07-20 Wim Van Drimmelen, Dutch sect Science Council of Government policy
- 1955-05-09 Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (Misfits of Science), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Bill Nye (68 years old)
1955-11-27 American TV host and science presenter (Bill Nye the Science Guy) and engineer, born in Washington D.C.
- 1958-02-07 Matt Ridley, British science writer
- 1958-10-14 Thomas Dolby [Robertson], British new-wave rock singer and musician ("She Blinded Me With Science"), born in London, England
- 1960-03-24 Kelly LeBrock, American actress (Weird Science, Woman in Red), born in New York City
- 1960-10-23 Randy Pausch, American computer science professor, author
- 1963-11-27 Fisher Stevens, American actor (My Science Project, Short Circuit), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1964-02-12 Raphael Sbarge, American actor (Risky Business, My Science Project, Werewolf), born in New York City
- 1966-11-10 Vanessa Angel, English actress (Weird Science, Kingpin), born in London
Famous Weddings
- 1827-01-04 Naturalist and entomologist Thomas Say (39) secretly weds natural science illustrator Lucy Way Sistare (26)
Neil Armstrong
1956-01-28 Science student later astronaut Neil Armstrong marries fellow student Janet Elizabeth Shearon in Wilmette, Illinois
Bill Nye
2006-02-03 "The Science Guy" Bill Nye (50) weds author/oboist Blair Tindall at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles
Famous Deaths
- 1630-08-01 Federico Cesi, Italian naturalist and founder of the first modern scientific society, the Accademia dei Lincei, dies at 45
Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
1703-03-03 English scientist (Micrographia), dies at 67
- 1857-07-29 Thomas Dick, Scottish scientific teacher and writer (b. 1774)
- 1866-03-06 William Whewell, English polymath and philosopher (History of Inductive Science), dies at 71
- 1872-11-28 Mary Fairfax Somerville, British scientific writer (b. 1780)
- 1877-09-25 Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich, German physician ( established normal temperature as 37 °C (98.6 °F), dies at 62
- 1903-10-23 Francis Ellingwood Abbot, American theologian (Scientific Theism), dies at 66
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910)
1910-12-03 American founder of the religious movement, Christian Science (Science & Health), dies at 89
- 1911-11-08 Samuel Wilks, British physician and founding father of clinical science, dies at 87
- 1915-10-22 Andrew Noble, Scottish physicist who was a founder of the science of ballistics, dies at 84
- 1925-03-10 John Fillmore Hayford, American Geodesist who established the theory of isostasy and founded the modern science of geodesy (precise measurements of the shape of the earth), dies at 56
- 1931-07-02 Stephen Babcock, American agricultural chemist (Babcock test and father of scientific dairying), dies at 87
- 1958-01-09 Willis Rodney Whitney, American Chemist, founder of the General Electric research laboratory, and pioneer of industrial scientific research, dies at 89
- 1969-06-24 Willey Ley, American science writer, dies at 62
- 1974-08-22 Jacob Bronowski, Polish-born British mathematician and science writer best known as the presenter of the BBC television series, The Ascent of Man, dies of a heart attack at 66
- 1976-06-21 Margaret Herrick, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences director (b. 1902)
- 1987-03-21 Dean Paul Martin, Jr, American singer (Dino, Desi & Billy), and actor (Misfits of Science), dies in a military aircraft crash at 35
- 1991-10-28 Dudley McConnell, American space scientist, headed NASA's Earth Science Division, dies at 55
- 1996-02-09 Alistair Cameron Crombie, Australian historian of science, dies at 80
- 1996-06-17 Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (paradigm shift), dies at 73
- 1996-10-12 Trevor Illtyd williams, scientific writer, dies at 75
- 1997-02-02 Chico Science [Francisco Franca], Brazilian musician (manguebeat), dies in a car accident at 30
- 1997-05-26 Manfred Von Ardenne, German scientific pioneer, dies at 90
- 2001-08-27 Michael Dertouzos, Greek internet pioneer, Director of the M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science (b. 1936)
- 2007-04-16 Liviu Librescu, American Jewish-Romanian professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, dies saving his students during Virginia Tech massacre at 76
Joseph Weizenbaum (1923-2008)
2008-03-05 German-American computer scientist (ELIZA, "Computer Power and Human Reason"), dies at 85
- 2008-07-25 Randy Pausch, American professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, known for his "Last Lecture" (b. 1960)
- 2015-05-24 Tanith Lee, British Science-fiction author (The Flat-Earth Cycle), dies of cancer at 67
- 2015-11-23 Douglass North, American economist, (Nobel Prize Economic Sciences 1993), dies at 95
Amedeo Avogadro
Demis Hassabis
Douglas Lenat
Edward Feigenbaum
John Hopfield
Leonardo da Vinci